Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic have what it takes to overcome AEK Athens despite shipping a damaging away goal to the Greek champions.
Callum McGregor’s fine 17th minute strike rewarded an energetic start to the game for the Parkhead side.
However, a defensive lapse allowed AEK to secure a 1-1 draw through Victor Kloranidis a minute before half-time.
Brendan Rodgers (front) leads his dejected stars in applauding the home crowd at Celtic Park
And, despite the visitors being reduced to 10 men following a red card for Greek midfielder Konstantinos Gainopoulos in 57 minutes Celtic now face a huge task to secure a Champions League play-off tie against Malmo or Hungarians Vidi.
Insisting his team can cancel out AEK’s away goal by scoring themselves in Tuesday’s second leg an upbeat Rodgers said: ‘I don’t think there’s any question about that.
‘We will have enough of the ball to think that we have the players of quality that can score.
‘Of course we are going to have to defend well too. It was always going to be a difficult game whether we were 1-0 up or at 1-1.
AEK Athens scored a crucial away goal late in the first half through midfielder Viktor Klonaridis
‘I always felt we would have to go over there and score anyway, so it is very much still I the balance.
‘It swings a bit to them because they’re at home, but we certainly know we have the quality to go and perform after seeing that this evening.’
The Parkhead side will have to beat AEK without Kristoffer Ajer after the Norwegian’s second-half yellow card ruled him out of the second leg in the Olympic Stadium.
Australian international Daniel Arzani is poised to sign a two-year loan deal on Thursday, while Emilio Izaguirre will fly to Glasgow to seal return to the club as cover for Kieran Tierney.
Despite expressing fears over a lack of quality signings, however, Rodgers insists Celtic still have enough to confound expectations.
Celtic manager Rodgers (right) looks on during his side’s match against AEK Athens
‘I think everyone was thinking the same thing at this stage last year, going out to Rosenborg and wondering if we could get a result knowing it was going to be tough out there.
‘But we went there and produced a really good performance and won the game. I don’t see any reason why we can’t do that again here.
‘We respect that they are a good side, but we also showed tonight that we can play well, dominate the game and create chances.
‘We’ll need to put in a big performance of course, but I have great confidence in the players to do that
‘Apart from that one error that we made just before half time, when we were sat here at 1-0, I would be talking about a fantastic performance.
Callum McGregor (pictured) celebrates scoring Celtic’s opener against AEK Athens
McGregor’s strike in the 17th minute put Celtic in the lead in the Champions League qualifier
‘I’m still very proud of how we played. I thought we started the game so well in every element, our shape, offensively when we had the ball, and our defending and pressing was at a really high level.
‘We were in good control of the game and Athens were probably waiting and waiting to get to half time and regroup but obviously we conceded in the 44th minute.
‘The game didn’t change much in the second half, whether it was 10 men or 11 men. They set off on a deep block. The only frustration was we couldn’t quite make that final pass count in that final third of the pitch.
‘Overall we are still in a really good position. It was always going to be difficult game for us over there but after tonight and seeing how we played and the performance it gives us great hope of going out there to get a result.’